CNOOC invites foreign firms to explore for oil in deep-sea blocks
CNOOC invites foreign companies to bid for more areas - including in the South China Sea - with some near, but not in, disputed areas
Top offshore oil producer CNOOC is inviting foreign companies to explore for oil and gas in another 26 blocks, including 22 in the South China Sea, although an analyst said none of these were in disputed territory.
Experts said the tender, which also covers blocks in the Bohai Sea off north China and in the East China Sea, was probably the largest offered by China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) since the 1990s - a sign that the oil giant wants to boost exploration as its output growth slows.
The tender comes two months after CNOOC invited international firms to bid for nine blocks in the western part of the South China Sea, a move Vietnam said was illegal as the blocks encroached on its territorial waters.
China at the time insisted the tender in June was in accord with Chinese and international law and urged Vietnam not to escalate the quarrel.
Huang Xinhua, a geologist at energy consultancy IHS, said none of the latest blocks appeared to be in disputed areas.